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Colorado Chamber Players Play Tribute to Toru Takemitsu

Apr. 01, 2006

The Colorado Chamber Players presented A Tribute to Toru Takemitsu, on March 11 and 12, 2006, in both Golden and Denver, Colorado featuring virtuoso guitarist Masakazu Ito.  The all-Takemitsu programs included  A Bird Came Down The Walk (1994), for viola and piano, A Way A Lone (1980), for string quartet, All in Twilight (1987), for solo guitar, And Then I Knew 'Twas Wind (1992), for flute, viola and harp, Orion (1984), for cello and piano, and Rocking Mirror Daybreak (1983), for violin duo.  CCP Artistic Director and violist Barbara Hamilton comments:

I have been entranced by the music of Takemitsu for many years. The subtleties in color, the beautiful use of silence, the constant reference to the sounds of nature have always pulled me in. Compared with our frenetic pace of life, the music of Takemitsu creates a gentleness, timelessness and expansiveness that I do not find in many other composers. Playing or listening to Takemitsu’s music changes one’s sense of time and pacing. As a recent audience member at our March concert noted "I feel transported to a planet that I didn’t know existed!" 

 

Called "allusive, elusive and grand" in a headline in the Denver Post following the tribute performances, Takemitsu's music has often been linked with that of Debussy and Messaien.  He was largely self-taught as a composer and his compositions often drew from visual imagery taken from paintings, dreams, and his concept of the Japanese garden and its design.  He wrote:

I can imagine a garden superimposed over the image of an orchestra. A garden is composed of various different elements and sophisticated details that converge to form a harmonious whole. Each element does not exert its individuality, but achieves a state of anonymity...and that is the kind of music that I would like to create.

 

In this 10th anniversary year of the composer's death, performances of Takemitsu's music include Signals from Heaven at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Between Tides by the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Tree Line by the National Arts Centre Orchestra as well as many other performances abroad. 

To learn more about Takemitsu’s life and works, please visit www.schott-music.com. For more about the future performances mentioned, please visit the following websites:
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra www.cpo-live.com
Chicago Chamber Musicians www.chicagochambermusic.org
National Arts Centre Orchestra www.nac-cna.ca

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